Activities

Activity 1

THE WRITING PROCESS

Writing sports journalism is a particular kind of writing. Firstly, you write to length and, secondly, to tight deadlines. Ian Ridley talks in the programme about cutting from the bottom (what happens if your story is too long) and he has to file his report for the first edition of the Sunday papers within minutes of the match ending.

FIRST: Collect together a series of this week's football reports from a range of newspapers. Working in groups, compare them using the key questions below. Do the reports differ in focus and in how they tell their stories?

Accuracy: What happened? When? Who did it?

Focus: What is the most important thing around which the story will develop? What is the theme?

Telling a Story: Where's the beginning, middle and end? What is dramatic? What is exciting?

SECOND: Take this page from a reporter's notebook and write up your account of the game. You can add details but you have a 500 word limit.

Westley FC v Horringer United, Monday November 5th

Westley FC		Horringer United
Murray Farrell, new signing from Horringer starts.
	5	Free kick, outside the box, Kevin Wilson scores, curving shot
Farrell tackled hard by Wilson	15	Wilson booked
Near miss, Eddie Mallinson	20
Farrell fouls Wilson in box	25	Tim Plant scores from the penalty
Mark Anderson booked, dissent	30
Paul Bedford gets one back, scrambled goal, Horringer dispute it	35
HALF TIME
Come out fired up, Farrell scores from long range	48
	55	Wilson fouls Bedford, second booking, sent off
Penalty for handball, missed by team captain, Fred Nicol	75
Farrell scores after thirty yard dash	86	Horringer manager, Liam Conn is warned for shouting on the touchline
Farrell scores after thirty yard dash	89	Plant comes close with header

THIRD: Now try out your skills on a genuine game or videotaped highlights. It's harder than you think.

Make a display of your finished match reports.